Means for transmitting tickets by facsimile



Sept. 20, 1960 c. U. HARTLE EVAL MEANS FOR TRANSMITTING TICKETS EYFACSIMILE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 28, 1957 mozwmwf. uz Nom Nm.. ou.45.0. x5.. und;

INVENTORS C U. HARTLE W. F. MOORE ATTORNEY sept. 2o, 1960 c. U. HARTLEHAL 2,952,930

MEANS FOR TRANSMITTING TICKETS BY FACSIMILE Filed March 28. 1957 2Sheets-Sheet 2 o- THE Z2 AMERICAN Igw CD5-J COMPANY E vALuE TAx OTAI.vALuE rAx To'rAI. ,vALuE TAx TOTAL Ie.2o I. `20.02 I.2o I.e2 20.02 Ie.2on.82 20.02

ONE P ssENGER NE PASSENGER ONE PASSENGER 26 27 l l If' f THE THE THEPULLMAN PULLMAN PULLMAN c 9 M PANY FOR COMPANY AUDITOR STANDARD CARPASSENGER'S CHECK co M PANY: co MPANY T ICKE 1' TII IIIEIIIIFYAIIIIMIIIIIAIIIINS FIIRIIIISEII TUES.MAY 8' I TUES.MAY 9 P' u I I 8% N II Y N "a 2% mma *'MORR" o I I SPIZGUE n.l uv; To CHICAGO I I To CHICAGOE E' manu-"d I LREERAw/W LIJ m CODE) 97| 2 I m I I v. 6:00 PM Esr IVALUE TAX TOTAL ONE PASSENGER VALUE TAX TOTALI VALUE TAX TOTAL Ie.2o Iaz 2o.o2[ 8.20 ONE PASSENGERI O/ INVENTORS C U. HARTLE FIGB BYw.I-".MooRE AWM ATTORNEY nite MEANS FOR TRANSMITIING TICKETS BYFACSlNlILE Filed Mar. 2s, 1957, ser. No. 649,096

2 claims. (01.40-10) This invention relates to a method of transmittingtickets or the like by means of a facsimile transmitter at an oiiice,for example, at a ticket reservation center, for effecting theirdelivery and issuance by means of a facsimile recorder located at adistant point, for example, in a customers oiiice, generally in responseto requests for tickets or reservations.

'I'he instant invention obviates the delay and trouble commonlyencountered when a business rm Wishes to obtain tickets or reservations,for example, train tickets and reservations for its personnel.Heretofore it has generally been necessary for the customer rst toascertain from the railroad reservation oliice whether one or more unitsof space are available on a certain train on a particular date. If thedesired space is available, reservations may be entered by the railroadin the name of the customer, but it is then necessary for the customerto send an employee to a ticket window at the reservation oliice to buythe reserved space and pick up the tickets. This results in substantialloss of time which is incurred by travel of an employee to the ticketoffice and return and also the time frequently lost while Waiting inline at a ticket reservation window.

Some railroads have now established a service which permits thetransmission of completed railroad and/or Pullman tickets by facsimilemethods to customers having facsimile machines in their oilices. It willbe appreciated, however, that -it is diflicult for the reservationoffice to transmit the facsimile signals from a relatively small ticketform on available facsimile equipment which is adapted to accommodatemuch larger copy sheets, for example, a transmitter-recorder of the typein general use and known to the public by the trademark Deskfax.

It is an object of the instant invention to facilitate the transmissionof facsimile signals of tickets to a customer by means of conventionalinterconnected facsimile machines, by providing a composite facsimiletransmitting blank for use by the reservation oilice, which blankcomprises the combination of a transmitting sheet of a suitable size andconiiguration for insertion in a conventional facsimile transmitter ortransceiver, which sheet has a plurality of slits formed therein, and amaster ticket form or coupon having the necessary data thereon removablydisposed in the slits in a manner to locate and hold the ticket form inthe proper position for the transmission of the ticket facsimilesignals. The arrangement also enables certain other information to betransmitted by the transmitting sheet in addition to the data appearingon the master ticket form, and the ticket form is held in such positionrelative to the information appearing on the transmitting sheet as tocause the data on the ticket form and the information on thetransmitting sheet to be disposed in tabular form, whereby the signalstransmitted from the composite blank may be recorded at the customersoiiice on a recording blank of a type that may readily be divided into aplurality of separable parts each con- States Patent V' Patented Sept.20, 1960 taining a complete tem of transmitted information. This enablesthe transmitted ticket to be received at the customers oice on aperforated sheet of electrosensitive recording paper 'and which in thecase of railroad tickets comprises a 3part validated ticket includingthe conductors and passengers copies and one for the customers auditor.

Illustrative embodiments of the invention are depicted in theaccompanying drawing in which:

' Fig. l is a View of a composite transmission blank embodying theprinciples of the invention;

Fig. Z is a view of a similar transmission blank, with a differentarrangement for holding the master ticket form; and

Fig. 3 is a view of a 3-part validated ticket resulting from thetransmission of signals from the transmitting blank of either Fig. 1 orFig. 2.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, as shown in Fig. l, thecomposite transmitting blank includes a rectangular transparent sheetwhich has been folded in half along the line 11 to provide a top sheet10 overlying a bottom sheet l2, the folder being of a size andconfiguration adapted for insertion in a conventional facsimiletransmitter or transceiver, for example, of the type in which thetransmission blank is fastened around a transmitting and recording drum,as in a comparatively small office type transceiver known in the tradeunder the trademark Deskfax. In such a machine the drum is rotated at asuitable constant speed and when used as a transmitter a pickupphotocell is advanced longitudinally along the drum by means of atraveling carriage at the proper rate to eect helical scanning of atransmitting blank and produce facsimile signals in known manner. ltwill also be understood that a at bed type of facsimile machine may beemployed instead of a drum type machine. The transparent folder abovementioned may be formed from a relatively tough plastic sheet of.suitable thickness, such as cellulose acetate, aceto-butyrate andvarious vinyl copolymers, although preferably the sheet is a polyesterfilm made from polyethylene terethalate obtainable under the trademarkMYLAK The upper sheet 10 of the folder has four specially arranged cutsor slots 14 punched or otherwise formed therein, and a pasteboard ticketform or coupon 16 may readily be inserted from the underside of the topsheet 10 with the four corners of the ticket form being inserted in theslots 14. The ticket form 16, which is a master ticket or coupon kept inthe files of the reservation oliice, is thus securely held in properposition by the sheet 10, and the ends of the coupon are prevented fromprojecting upwardly when the folder is wrapped around the drum of thefacsimile machine for transmission.

The preprinted data appearing on the master ticket form or coupon will,in the case of Pullman tickets, usually comprise the train number anddate of departure, the car number, the names of the cities representingthe boarding and destination points, the particular category of reservedspace, e.g., a Bedroom, a letter or other character thatV identities aparticular bedroom in the car, and the hour of departure. Ashereinbefore stated, it is desired to transmit additional information tobe recorded on the electrosensitive ticket form at the facsimilerecorder, which information may comprise the price of the ticket and thetax thereon, and also a legend indicating the number of passengers tooccupy the space, and the name or identication of the rm or othercustomer in order that the ticket may be charged to be proper account.This additional information may be printed on the upper sheet 10 or itmay be printed on an oqaque sheet 2t) inserted within the folder, or ifdesired a portion of the information may be printed on each sheet, inwhich latter case the sheet Z6 is of contrasting color to theinformation delineated on arranged in tabular form so that theSignals,transmittedY from the transmission blank may be reproducedserially on the validated ticket form 24, Fig. 3, which ticket form isdivided into three severable parts each with'this 'information thereon.Line tear-E perforations 26, 27 in the ticket forrn are provided tofacilitatev separation of the three parts respectively for the customersauditor, the conductor on the train on which the ticket is used, and thepassengers copyor check. Any of various suitable types ,ofelectrosensitive facsimile recording paper may be employed for theticket form, although preferably the recording paper is of the typedisclosed in the U.S. patent to Kline', No, 2,528,005, issued October 3l', 1950, in which the electros'ensitive facsimile coating is composedof cuprousthiocyanate. The name The Pullman Company andtheidentifications of the three separable parts are preprintedY on theticket form, as shown in the iigure.V p

In the upper left hand portion of Fig. 1 a portion of the corner of themaster ticket 16 is'broken away in order toV show more clearly that eachslot 14 comprises a narrow slit 14a which terminates in an opening 14b.This facilitates the insertion of the corners of theticket into theslots, and the portion 14C of the sheet provides a backing for thecorners of the inserted ticket. l Small round holes 15 are punched inthe sheet to prevent tearing at the outer ends of the slits 14a.

Fig. 2 of the drawings shows a transmissionblank generally in accordancewith the blank of Fig. 1, except that to include a ticket,coupon,'check, small business form or the like. Various modifications ofthe structure illustrated herein `may occur to those versed in the artwiththe top sheet '10 of the folder has two narrow slots or slits 30 outtherein and the master ticket may be bowed upwardly and the Vends of theticket be inserted from the top of the sheet, the ends lbeing preventedfrom projecting from the folder by the sheet 10 when wrapped around thefacsimile transmitter, the slits serving to hold'the master ticket inproper'position .during a scanning operation. The web portionY of thesheet intermediate the slots has triangular cutout portions V31 tofacilitate the insertion of the ticket 16.

While preferably the transmission blank comprises a folder oftransparent material, Iit will be understood that a master ticket formor coupon may be mounted in slits or slots formed in a single sheet ofopaque material to comprise a transmission blank, and in such case theadditional information hereinbefore referred to would be printed on thesingle sheet, for example, like the sheet 20 have slots formed therein.

While the invention has been explained primarily with reference torailroad reservation service, it will be appreciated that the inventionis also applicable to the facsimile transmission and issuance oftickets, coupons and the like for theatres, sporting events, and otherpurposes, including bank or other business forms of a sine smaller thanthe usual facsimile blank. For brevity 1n the claims the word fticket isemployed in a generic sense out departing from the spirit ofthe instantinvention which is, therefore, not to be regarded as limited except asindicated by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is: g

1. A composite facsimile transmission blank for use with a facsimilemachine for transmitting signals for recording on an electrosensitiveticket form having detach- `able portions connected by line tear-olfperforations, comprising a two-sheet folder having at least the uppersheet thereof formed from transparent material, said 'folder having asize and configuration such that it may be inserted in a facsimiletransmitter, an opaque sheet removably contained between the sheets ofsaid folderand having one type of information delineated thereon andscannable through the upper transparent sheet of the folder, said uppersheet having a plurality of slotsformedtherein, and an opaque ticket,having further information delineated thereon and vremovably disposedin saidrslots in Va manner to locate and hold said ticket `in suchposition that said further information delineated thereon Yand saidinformation delineated on-the contained opaque sheet are presented inpredeterminedV juxtaposition to insure V that the transmittedinformation `as recorded is properly "locatedwith respectto saidlinegtear-off perforations'in the validated ticket form. f

2. A composite facsimile Ytransmission blank for use with a drum typefacsimile machine for transmitting signals for recording on anelectrosensitive -ticket form having detachable portions connected byline tear-olfperforations, comprising a two-sheet folder formedfrom aflexible transparent plastic material, said folder having a size andconguration such that it may be -wrapped around a-facsimile transmittingdrum, an opaque sheet removably contained between the sheets of saidfolder and having one type of information delineated thereonandscannablthrough the upper transparent sheet of the folder, saidupper-sheet having a plurality of slots formed therein, and an opaqueticket having further information Vdelineated thereon and removablydisposed in said slots in a manner to cause the ticket to conform to thecurvature of the transmitting drum and to locate and hold the ticket-insuch .position that said further information delineated thereon Vandsaid information delineated on :the contained opaque sheet are presentedin predetermined juxtaposition to insure -that the transmittedinformation as recorded Ais properly located with respect to said linetear-pif Yperforations `in

